ms docs

[GM Barlean]

How do I put an ms doc on to my kindle? Mine is the $79 basic one.

[oliewankanobe]

You can upload virtually anything to your cloud account and send it, I believe.

[Linjeakel]

There are two ways to transfer compatible docs to the Kindle.

You can connect the Kindle via USB and then just copy and paste the doc to the Kindles 'documents' folder and it will show up just like a book on your Kindle's home screen.

The other way is to send it as an attachment via email to the email address associated with your Kindle. If you're not sure what that is, look on your 'manage your kindle' page on Amazon under 'personal document settings'. As you have the basic Kindle, it can only go via wi-fi so there would be no charge. (Anyone with a 3G Kindle, use your @free.kindle.com address and to be sure, change the maximun charge under 'delivery options' to zero). You will also need to register the address you're sending it from as an approved address, further down same the page.

If you do it the second way it will be available in your Kindle library to download to other devices or Kindle apps on your account.

[Ann in Arlington]

Note that the .doc format is not native on Kindle. . .but Amazon will convert it to kindle format for you if you send it as Linda explains.  If you just copy and paste, the device won't be able to read it.

[GM Barlean]

Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Thank you, thank you!

[ErinLindsey]

Email the document as an attachment to your @kindle.com (or @free.kindle.com) address. Amazon will convert it into a Kindle readable document.  Depending on which Kindle you have, it'll automatically download if your wifi/3g is on. Or you can use the USB cord to transfer it over.

I love being able to do that. One of my Kindles is just for reading fanfiction that I've downloaded off the internet and converted to read on my Kindle. Best thing in the world that Amazon could have done for the Kindle. I dont even mind it when I use the non-free address and get charged for it.

[LeoHopkins]

Interesting. I did not know they would convert for free. Are there limitations on that?

I have been doing my own conversion of Fanfiction but having another option is certainly nice.

What format do you generally start with and do you do chapter breaks and TOC?

[Morf]

The charge they apply is to cover the cost of the 3G connection, it's not to cover the conversion, so there is no difference between the conversion if you use your free.kindle address and if you use your kindle address.

How good is the conversion? No idea, I've not used it. You'll probably get more advice regarding chapters and TOC etc over in the writers cafe http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/board,60.0.html.

[Ann in Arlington]

My experience is that if the original is clean, the conversion is decent.  PDF's with specialized formatting is problematic, but basic text documents or well put together .doc files work just fine.  I don't think the ToC would be linked though.  Note that if it is anything that has copy protection, Amazon will not convert it.

As Morf suggests, ask in the Writer's Cafe. . . .those folks will be able to tell you the best way to do the conversion to get the results you want, whether for your own use or original content that you might want to offer for sale.

[LeoHopkins]

Thanks for the link Morf! Right now I am just converting fanfiction but I'd like to put together some compilations by author to save space in the Home pages. Putting 30 or more stories of varying lengths into one "book" will definitely require a linked TOC to make things functional.

I am not sure if fanfiction is considered copy protected. I do have the writers permission but fanfiction, by it's very nature, is a violation of intellectual property.  Although some creators embrace it (Gene Roddenberry for one), others do not, but many take no notice unless there is money being made or anything that would create a public response.

Anyhow, I will stick to my current method for this but will look into this for some future project (tech manuals and such for work).

[GM Barlean]

I sent it to my kindle email and it worked great. This is a great way to make sure your e-formating is correct.

[ErinLindsey]

I think as long as you're not trying to pass off the fanfiction as your own creation, or trying to sell the fanfiction you're cool with converting it into Kindle readable files for your own use. There used to be a website called "Would You Like Fries With That?" that had a lot of popular fanfic on it that was formatted to read on Palm and other PDA's.  Not sure if there's anything like that around anymore.

I was trying to use Fanfiction Downloader http://fanfictionloader.appspot.com/ to download fanfic from fanfiction.net to read on my Kobo reader (the Kobo uses epub, the Fanfiction Downloader does halfway decent epubs if the fanfic author doesnt put tons of extraneous crap in their stories, like 7 to 10 page turns of responses to the reviews they got on with their stories...on every chapter! Augh! I deleted that story off my Kobo without finishing it!).  I tried to use it to download Mobi's to my Kindle (think it was mobi...been awhile...mobi is a Kindle readable format, right?) and I didnt like the it looked on my Kindle 3, and it wouldnt work on my Fire.

I prefer to use Word for sending fanfics to my Kindle. (too bad I'm down to one computer that has Word on it, and it's probably going to go any day. I'm mostly a Mac user now. My real computers are Macs. I've been assimilated)

TextEdit (program on the Mac) isnt too bad of a program if you're an Apple user and dont have access to a Windows computer with Word on it. I'm still not that used to TextEdit so I dont know all the nifty stuff that I learned in the classes I took for using Word, but it's a workable word processing program.

I hate using Calibre for converting fanfic on any of my readers (K2, K3, KFire or my Kobo) I dont know what it is with Calibre, but I just cant stand using it. I may have gotten a bad download and it just doesnt like my iMac.

[GM Barlean]

I got word for my Mac. What do you use on your Mac?

[LeoHopkins]

I use Mobi but I generally copy and paste the content from the web into a Word document, save the Word document and then convert it. So of the writers have supplied me with the Word documents so it cuts out the middle part (was especially nice on a huge multi-part 578 pg, 136,660 word story) and makes sure you have the writer's permission. Although, I currently do not pass around the resulting conversion, it is just for personal use, I do offer it to the writer/s and let them know that they are welcome to share it if they so choose. Some do not want it passed around others are more than happy to share.

ErinLindsey, I will have to dig through my emails, I have a site that does audiobook versions of fanfiction and I had contacted the owner to get some thoughts and ideas on starting a fanfiction e-reader site and she send me a link to an existing site. They did not have the selection and variety that ff.net has but it seemed to have quality fic based on the ones I read.

GM Barlean, I'd be interested to see how it compares with my current method as sometimes there are still some spots where the formatting goes funny. Usually I just use mobi to edit the html code to fix it and then convert it again but sometimes even that does not work. With winter coming on I'll have some "inside time" to play with that (and linked TOC). I'll let you all know how it goes.

[GM Barlean]

I had it formatted just as a regular word doc. Standard indents, chapters beginning on new pages 1/3 of the way down. I seemed to have lost most of my indents and occasionally the whole page is indented. I'll be interested to see how it all works after I format it with the smashwords guidelines. I'm not a technical minded person and I haven't done any of this before so it's all brand new to me.

[ErinLindsey]

I usually just copy/paste into Word on my Windows computer, (about the only reason I still have a Windows computer is for Word) might occasionally clean up some weird formatting, or advertisements that sneak in on the copy/paste. I dont change any indents or anything that the original might have.

There is a website somewhere (cant remember the name, and not sure where I saved the link in my massive pile of fanfic bookmarks) that someone has been making audiobooks of fanfics (only at the request of the author because of how long it takes her to make them, she reads them into a podcast) They dont have much to offer right now, and I think it's mostly a slash site, so I havent looked at much of what they have.

I have been to a site that has fanfics already formatted for e-readers. They didnt have much of what I wanted, and again, it seemed to be mostly a slash site. So I havent used it much.

I've never passed around Kindle or epub formatted fanfics. I do however, if someone's looking for a rare fanfic that's disappeared off the internet, if I have a copy of the story I'll send it on to the person looking for it as a Word document. I almost always will include the original link where I found the story either at the beginning or the end of the document, and I always leave the author's info and email if it's included.  I've been reading fanfic for at least 15yrs or more, I didnt start saving stuff till about 10yrs ago. (which is making me wish I'd backed up my fanfic files on my recently deceased Windows computer. I better go do that on my other Windows computer)

I may have to back up some of my favorite stories to my Kobo (using that exclusively for fanfics) Just got a Mac Mini for Xmas that has the slot for the SD card. (still wishing that Amazon had kept the SD slot. The Kindle Fire would be perfect if it had an SD slot)

Havent been using any of my Kindles or the Kobo for a couple of months. I have MS and had a bad flare hit me just after I got my Kindle Fire. The steroids I took for the MS flare made me really jittery and couldnt really concentrate on reading, so I'm just now getting back to reading and using my Fire for something more than playing Angry Birds. Kind of sucks that I couldnt concentrate on reading...with all the sitting around I've been doing the past two months, I could have gotten a ton of reading done. Stupid MS!  At least I used the time to accessorize my Fire with a cover and headphones and watched a ton of free Amazon Prime videos. That kept me from being bored at least.

[oliewankanobe]

There is a brand new, free download called Send to Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=tsm_1_fb_kin_120112_sendtokin?ie=UTF8&docId=1000719931

[Linjeakel]

There is a brand new, free download called Send to Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=tsm_1_fb_kin_120112_sendtokin?ie=UTF8&docId=1000719931

The trouble with this app is that "documents are delivered in pdf format", which is not the most user friendly format to read on a Kindle.

[Ann in Arlington]

The trouble with this app is that "documents are delivered in pdf format", which is not the most user friendly format to read on a Kindle.

Except, it turns out they're not.  I agree the initial explanations about it are a bit confusing.  But I played with it a bit and here's how it seems to work.

If you start with a Kindle compatible format -- a .prc or .mobi file, for example -- it just goes straight to your Kindle and displays properly.  All the usual font controls work.  You find the file on your computer, right click, and 'send to kindle' is an option.

If you start with a Kindle convertible format -- like a .doc or .txt file -- it is converted via Amazon the same as if you did it via the 'send to' email method.

It's really only if you start with a PDF that it won't convert it to a Kindle file.

Also, if it's a web page or something you print TO the 'send to kindle' "printer" it is delivered as a PDF.  

So, I'd say it's a good first step but I'd probably prefer the default for a PDF be to convert it rather than keep it as a PDF. . . but that's consistent with how you do it with the 'send to' email system as well.  It won't convert it unless you specifically say to.  Maybe at some point they'll add the functionality to let you specify.

[Betsy the Quilter]

Except, it turns out they're not.  I agree the initial explanations about it are a bit confusing.  But I played with it a bit and here's how it seems to work.

If you start with a Kindle compatible format -- a .prc or .mobi file, for example -- it just goes straight to your Kindle and displays properly.  All the usual font controls work.  You find the file on your computer, right click, and 'send to kindle' is an option.

If you start with a Kindle convertible format -- like a .doc or .txt file -- it is converted via Amazon the same as if you did it via the 'send to' email method.

It's really only if you start with a PDF that it won't convert it to a Kindle file.

Also, if it's a web page or something you print TO the 'send to kindle' "printer" it is delivered as a PDF.  

So, I'd say it's a good first step but I'd probably prefer the default for a PDF be to convert it rather than keep it as a PDF. . . but that's consistent with how you do it with the 'send to' email system as well.  It won't convert it unless you specifically say to.  Maybe at some point they'll add the functionality to let you specify.

Just an additional bit of clarification.  The new Send to Kindle App, once installed on a Windows PC, adds an option to the contextual menu you get when right clicking on files in Explorer on your computer.  It works as Ann describes.  It also adds itself as an option for printing in applications.  So, if you are within an application, be it your browser, or Word, or any other app that has a print option, you print to it and it sends as a PDF.  (Either way, the format the file is being sent in will always be shown at the bottom of the dialog box.)

You also get an option to send it directly to one of your Kindle devices or to your personal documents or both.

Betsy

[Linjeakel]

Ann & Betsy, thank you. It seems it might be more useful than I first thought - and Amazon's own blurb needs a bit of a rewrite.

[Ann in Arlington]

Ann & Betsy, thank you. It seems it might be more useful than I first thought - and Amazon's own blurb needs a bit of a rewrite.

I agree. . . .when I first read it I thought "well, what good is sending everything as a PDF. . .that doesn't make any sense?"  Fortunately, though what they said was correct, they kind of buried the lead. . . . .